Hidden Highlights from the Olympiad: A Nice Middlegame Checkmate

by ChessBase
9/26/2026 – Eleven rounds, 206 teams in the Open, 185 in the Women's event – thousands of games are played at the Chess Olympiad. Most attention goes to the games on the top boards, while many entertaining and interesting games go unnoticed. But at the ChessBase booth in Samarkand, ChessBase invites Olympiad players to show us their best games. Colin Pace from Malta (right in the photo) used the chance. | Left in the photo: ChessBase author Bahne Fuhrmann
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Colin Pace is one of Malta's most successful players and has already won the national championship nine times. In round 7, he had Black against CM Waldyr Espirito Santo in Malta's match against São Tomé and Príncipe. Pace finished the game with a nice mating attack and helped Malta to a convincing 3½–½ victory.

Replay the game

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